There was the embargo of the 1970s, which helped prices skyrocket amid rationing; the oil boom of the 1980s; talk of running out of the oil in the 1990s; and then the back and forth ever since.

On Friday, John Christiansen, with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (based in The Woodlands), moved to dispel what he sees are some inaccuracies in the whole debate. Christiansen was addressing the assembled membership of the Greater Tomball Chamber of Commerce at its monthly luncheon.

He started by talking about the role of liquid natural gas and finished by talking about hydraulic fracturing (fracking). His role was the educate, although he realized he couldn’t change everyone’s mind.

The smaller of the topics was his address on natural gas, which is one of cleaner ways Americans get their energy. In short, natural gas is used to turn massive turbines that produce electricity. There’s a bit more to it than that but that’s the general idea. Burning natural gas - which the U.S. has plenty of - is cleaner than the second choice (coal).

“There’s no reason you can’t produce oil and natural gas and do it in an environmentally friendly way,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen spent the bulk of his presentation talking about fracking and attempted to dispel myths his industry faces. Fracking is basically drilling a hole thousands of feet into the Earth, pumping it full of water and sand under high pressure to crack the deep rock, and capturing the gas or crude oil that is released. The wells are far deeper than water tables and, according to Christiansen, well insulated from any water we may drink.

He pointed out that fracking uses a relatively small amount of water when compared to other uses. Earthquakes that some groups claim result from fracking do not happen, Christiansen said, citing research conducted by the U.S. government and the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. And contrary to traditional wells, fracking is a quick process that takes up a relatively small area.

One of the biggest myths he dispelled is that fracking is not regulated, to which he pointed out the numerous regulatory groups that have a say in how fracking is done.

A fairly old technology - the first fracking was accomplished in the U.S. way back in 1949 - more companies are moving toward the process as a way to further free the country from its dependence on foreign oil.

While it is not a perfect system, there are no perfect ones. Renewable sources of energy may require the damming of a river; a wind farm requires at least six acres of land; and a solar farm takes up an eight-acre footprint.

In a perfect world, the need to alter nature’s landscape in the pursuit of energy would not happen. The reality is an energy-hungry society has to change its landscapes to harness untapped sources of energy - oil, natural gas, wind, the sun, etc.. It is the process in which it is done that matters. Christiansen made the case for his company on Friday.